The Madden Cover Curse: Two-for-One In 2010?

Every person who has ever spent countless hours playing the most popular sports game of all time—Madden—knows about the curse of the Madden cover.

Every season, the Madden cover athlete has experienced some very unfortunate happening in the following season, whether it be injury, loss of talent or just a plain terrible season.

This all started with the biggest one of all in 2000 when Barry Sanders became the first player to grace the cover of the game, and the fist person other than the face behind the game, John Madden. That same year, Sanders retired unexpectedly while at the top of his game.

It was later found out that Barry’s retirement was a case of poor communication, and when he talked to his agent, he said I’m really tired, which is agent took as I’m going to retire, the news broke and there was no going back.

In 2001, Eddie George graced the cover after his impressive Super Bowl season, but George would never be the same, and ended his career quietly in Dallas.

Daunte Culpepper was the first quarterback to be on the cover for the 2002 edition. At the time, you could have made an argument for him as the best player in football.

During the 2002 season, Culpepper set a career high in interceptions (23) and had the worst season of his career. As we all know, two years later, Culpepper tore his ACL ending his season, and from what we have seen since he came back, it has ended his career.

In 2003, Marshall Faulk was on the cover, after making his mark as the lead back of the greatest show on turf—the dominant St. Louis Rams.

In this season that followed Faulk's Madden cover, Faulk broke his hand and missed significant time, and would never be the same. Faulk would be forced to retire a few seasons later.

The most unfortunate Madden Curse of all time came when Atlanta Falcons' QB Michael Vick was on the cover of Madden 2004.

Vick broke his leg in the third preseason game of the 2004 season and missed nearly the 17 weeks. To add insult to injury, Michael Vick was sentenced to two years in prison on dog fighting charges a few years later, leaving his NFL future in doubt.

In 2005, Ray Lewis, an admitted Madden fan, found his place on the cover of his favorite game. Lewis followed up the cover appearance in 2005 with the worst statistical season of his career.

Eagles' QB Donovan McNabb graced the front of Madden 2006, which he followed up with by having one of his worst seasons ever, not to mention having to deal with Terrell Owens antics, a year removed from taking the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

Shaun Alexander was on the cover of the 2007 game. He earned the cover spot by setting the record for most rushing touchdowns in a single season the previous year.

Alexander ended up breaking his foot and missing much of the ensuing season, and like many of the others, Alexander has never been the same and is nearing the end of his career, barring an incredible and unexpected comeback.

The highly-touted former University of Texas QB and rookie sensation Vince Young got the nod for the 2008 cover after just one year in the league.

Young fell under not only the Madden curse, but also the sophomore jinx. Young injured his wrist and missed a few games during the 2008 season. His Titans were also ousted from the playoffs in the first round.

Young started off this year with thoughts of suicide and extremely erratic behavior, not to mention he has lost his starting job to the seasoned veteran, Kerry Collins.

In 2009 Brett Farve made his way to the cover of the game. Favre appeared on the game as a Green Bay Packer, assuming he was retiring.

After Favre pulled his old tricks again and decided to come back for one more year, he was traded to the Jets and Madden ended up releasing a second cover with him in a Jets uniform.

Favre had a mediocre season at best, the Jets team he was brought in to save ended up not even making the playoffs. Favre has since been forced to finally retire because of arm problems and bad performance, which comes about 3 years too late in my opinion.

As for 2010, there are many rumored players to be on the cover of the first game in the next decade. Some of the big names being talked about are Adrian Peterson, Brandon Jacobs, Drew Brees and DeMarcus Ware.

Something is being talked about this season, and something that has never been done in the history of Madden. If you think about it, not that many times in any sports video game franchise have two players appeared on one cover.

EA Sports is considering having two players grace the cover of 2010 edition. The two players that are leading the race over everyone else are Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald, accompanied by Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

This would be a monumental task for the Madden curse to overcome. The curse has shown it can take down pretty much any single player, but could it possible to conquer two superstars?